Many federal appellate judges . . . approach patents with the kind of sus-
picion and hostility that a city-bred boy feels when he must traverse a jun-
gle full of snakes. . . . All patents look more or less strange and
threatening to them; and since they are heavily armed with the power of
the US Government, they frequently get the idea that it's their duty to kill
everything that moves in this dangerous land.

Abe Fortas: The Patent System in Distress

What Constitutes Infringement?

154

Infringement in the United Kingdom

155

Before the 1977 Act

155

Case Law and Statute Law

156

Infringement under the 1977 Act

158

Infringement in the USA

160

Procedure in the United Kingdom

163

Remedies

166

Who May Sue?

168

Threats

169

Procedure in the USA

169

Procedure in Continental Europe

172

Procedure in Japan

174

What Constitutes Infringement?

Once a patentee has obtained a granted patent, and done whatever is necessary to keep it in force, what can he do with it? As we have seen in Chapter
one, a patent does not give the patentee the right to practise his invention,
but only to prevent others from doing so. Although this right is, in the United Kingdom, granted by the Crown, it is not up to the Crown to
enforce it. Infringement of a British patent is not a crime for which one can
be prosecuted, but a tort, a civil wrong for which one can be sued in the civil
courts. Essentially, the right given by a patent is the right to sue for infringement.

While this is true for all countries having an Anglo-Saxon legal system, and
also for many others, there are nevertheless a number of countries in which
patent infringement is a criminal offence, either generally or in special circumstances, such as when there is deliberate and wilful infringement.

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